Government's talk of empowering Parliament were empty words

The government's defeat last night in the House of Commons says much about the hollow words of change from the Prime Minister and Government.

The subject matter of the vote is hardly relevant. They refused requests for any debate: the "lawmakers" as the Japan Times reminded me they are, were expected to rubber-stamp the intention of the Government without a word of discussion, even when they had asked for a debate. With a paltry total of 202 votes cast, the government showed its arrogance by not even seeing this defeat coming.

We now have a new Speaker, with a reforming mandate. Cannot Parliament have the final word on its own agenda? Should the Government not set an agenda by consensus, not by dictate?

BNP egged-off by its detractors

British National Party leader, Nick Griffin, made a hurried exit under a hail of eggs from outside London's parliament building, where he'd gone to give a press conference. Radio 4's PM programme asked whether it's right to pelt Nick Griffin with eggs. I think mainstream parties have got to learn very quickly how to take on the BNP, rather than condemning them without explanation, and dismissing their supporters.

As a starter, British politicians have a venerable tradition of receiving direct feedback from their constituents in the form of a good egging. Surely Nick Griffin shouldn't be exempt.

That said, other means of exposing shabby politicians and their policies are also part of the mix; and I don't see why he should be either exempt from these or enjoy the martyrdom of exclusion.

At the end of the day, Nick Griffin cast only one of the million votes that elected him and his fellow. None of them were not dissuaded from their vote by the revulsion of others in the BNP.

Word has it that many of them were drawn to the BNP out of desperation rather than ideology. If our increasing representation by fascists does not teach us to tackle their electors' issues head-on and provide a solution acceptable to some of those 6.2% of UK voters as well as the rest of us, we'd better prepare ourselves for even more BNP representation in the future.

For myself, I'd be quite interested to understand the biggest reason why voters for the BNP lent their support at the ballot box.

I thought of a few possibilities, based on my own perception of voters' likely alienation:

• Worried about foreigners taking British people's jobs
• Feel British culture is being eroded to the point they feel a stranger their own land
• Feel alienated by the anti-homophobic policies of other parties

Comparing these to the policy list on the BNP's web site, the second in my list was the main part of their top policy. The other two didn't even get a particular mention in their policy list or mini-manifesto.

Actually, visiting the BNP site and downloading their mini-manifesto felt slightly repulsive: like giving them tacit support. But having done it, I realised it is really the best tool to combat their popularity.

• Noting those policies of repute that the BNP don't want to shout about
• Subjecting their more outrageous policies to public ridicule
• Challenging their simplistic answers to complex issues
• Developing practical solutions to real public concern on which much of their support of desperation is based
• And in some cases, acknowledging some of the senseless policies of one or more of the mainstream parties that the BNP are actually answering.

Comments please...